Wall plate



E; w. MARTIN WALL PLATE Dec. 4, 1945.

Filed Sept. 16, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 v INVENTOR. E. Willmm n BY (ma mtg H 5? ATTORNEYS Dec. 4, 1945.

E. w. MARTiN 2,390,379

WALL PLATE I Filed Sept. 16, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 11v ENTQR.

E. William ariut ha -Q1) I. 5. S ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 4, 1945 1 El ES. PATEN T OFF [(3 2390,3791

WALL PLATE- Edward William Martiny" RioxburypConnn Applicationsep tember. 16, 1944, Serial No'. 554,489 t.

8 'CIaims.-'= 01.3108 4 This yinvention relates :to :building constructicn and-.more particularly; to {means fol: .securing roof rafters, ceiling joists and gutters torthe,wa11s. -oi

buildings. According to': invention; these scribedaherein below,

There is: aroonsiderable demand forsimplifying.

the. construction ofwbuilding jin order. toasave= labor costs.-, The tendency inzirecentiyearsr-has beemtoincrease.-.-.the ,-.use of- -prefabricated. parts which can i-berreadily installed. One wofithe i-most tediousrand .complicated. operations rinnordinary build-ing,- construction isrthe usual method of securing -roof rafters; ceilingjoists and gutters totheiwalls of buildings. Asat present oarriedout it involves first securing azwooden wall-. or -frame- 1 platesto the top, of the building-wall. In ther'case oftmasonry walls; thewooden wall-.plateis bolted. to-..-the :walL by; means ofl ,anchorbolts: that are. usually; built into. the top-portion. otthe wall at regular intervals by .the rmason; It-requires .care-. ful markingand drilling toproduce holesin the. wooden. ,w-all-plateq through 7 which these. anchor bolts-awill :pass, when the plate is placed on top of: thee-wall... Thearoofrafters and ceiling joists. are-..then secured .to thewall-plate by toe-nailingthernathereonw. The roof rafters are notched to. previde. a:-..bearing surface-. on the: wall-plate. Gutterlstraps. are usually; attached tothe roof. raftersat intervals .tosupport a separate gutter-i It isoustomary, in case 'of an overhanging roof,- to-provide ,a-woodencornice coveringthe ends of the roof rafters. All of these operations require considerabletskilledlabor. Eurthermorarthetoenailinggof the rafters and joistsdoes not furnish. awver-y securerhold', sozthat there is some danger in.

wind: .SBOIIHSa'EIld hurricanes that :the .roofnmay be,torn;;from=;the building This-is most apt tooccur when the atmosphericQpressure outside the. building abecomesgmuch lower than that withindt It. iscthe ..p rimary:"object of my-invention. to provide :simple means for securing these various. building elements, whichmay, be installed with aaminimurn: employment sof iskilledtlabon. An-

buildingiwallssoathat the; gutter can nevemsag;

while. allowing for easyereplacementrof many adam-a aged... or: rusted .Iseo-tio'ns... thereon; Another obe ject. is to eliminate plaster .cracksth'at are caused-T: by ,set.tling. .of. the .ceiling joists .due to warnings of the woodeniwall-plates. Such warping ,fr'equentlypccurs,"particularly when thewallplate isjmadeotwoodithat .has not been properly seae.

soiled. Fnrtherlobjects will beapparentifrom the following detailed description.

Referring tethedrawings which are for illustrative purposesonly:

Fi-g,.1,is.a crosssection of a building construction embodying the... novel. meansreferred. to. above.

Fig .2,is.a .plan .view of the wall-.plate-withi the. gutter, roof rafters and ceiling. joists attachedil.

Fig. 33s a.,perspective .viewof a, chat .used for fastening theraftersand joists to -the wall-plate.

Fig; .4 is.;a.persp 8otive viewof. an alternative form..of cleatsmade of heavy gauge steel wire. While-not asstrong as the formishown in Fig.3 it is much cheaper and 'willlusuallmsuffice, particularlywherethe roof rafters and ceiling joists occur. singly.

Fig 5. is aecross section alongthe line .A-A. of.;F?ig. 1,. showing, how. a rafter Land. a..joist may. be .securedtoa pair. .of cleats .and to.each .oth'er. whenever they occur. together.

Fig. .6 is a.=,.perspective view of..an. anchoring saddle which servestofirmly-h'old the wall plate tothe. top hof the .walliland. ithereby secure thecleats,. whenwth'e nut. on the. anchoringbolti (istightened; y

More. particularly, describing. the. invention with. reference. to the drawings in which like reference numerals are .usedfltot indicate corree spondingrparts throughout theseveral views 1..

. Reference; numeralll generally indicatesamyj new,, walleplateswhich in the .form illustrated ,is. injthesshapecof-an.L; andwhich is preferably madeptsteel that has been rendered rustproof; for example, coppenbearing steel. or theilikei Thedimensions-ofi the Wall-plate may vary within widerlimits, dep ending; upon the type and. size of buildingiin which. it is tobe employed. Mere? ly by -way;-oI-.examp1e, it may be about /1 inch. thickrandbe suppliediin eight-footlengths. The height. of: its: vertical portion: maybenvariedr widely,-. This will depend somewhat .onfthe desired-depth: ofsthe :gutter and need. only i be .sufficienti to.;-afiord ample bearing :surface for :the. vertical endsWofsthej-roof rafterss The width of. its :horizontal portion; may; likewise .vary within. widetlimitsa It i must be sufficientz tot provide. ample .bearing- 'sunface -.for -*the horizontal Lends. ofitheiroofirratters:andfor the-lends of theiceilina joists. Generally it will be wide enough to cover most of the top of the building wall.

Instead of being L-shaped, as shown, the wallplate may, if desired, be T-shaped, i. e., part of its vertical portion may extend below the horizontal portion. All that is necessary is that it possess both a vertical and a horizontal portion, and that at least part of the vertical portion extend above the horizontal portion, thus providing a right-angled seat for the ends of the roof rafters.

The horizontal portion of the wall-plate is provided with apertures or slots 2 that may be approximately one-half the width of that portion and are of considerable length. The length of these apertures is limited by the required rigidity of the structure. Generally speaking, it is desirable to make them as long as is compatible with that requirement. These apertures serve a variety of purposes. In the first place they provide openings large enough so that the plate may be readily set down over the anchor bolts 3 that have been built into the top of the wall as usual by the mason, without any exact measuring or drilling, thus saving considerable labor. They also provide openings through which the vertical portions of the adjustable c eats 4 extend at desired intervals. Finally they serve to lighten the structure and conserve material.

7 It will be noted that at the longer edges of the apertures or slots the Wall-plate is reduced in thickness, providing recesses I9 running the full lengths of the apertures to accommodate the ends of the horizontal portions of the cleats 4. The vertical portion of the wall-plate is provided with means for attaching the gutter 5 thereto. These means may consist of threaded holes 6 at suitable. intervals for the insertion of tap screws 1, as shown in Fig. 1. Preferably these holes are located high enough to be above the water level of the gutter.

The gutter 5 may be of any convenient shape and is suitably furnished in lengths equal to those of the wall-plate. When first installed, the gutter and wall-plate may come assembled and be furnished as aunit. The gutter is provided with corresponding holes for insertion of the cap screws I. Some of the gutter sections may be provided with a hole 8 for insertion of a drain pipe or leader 9. The gutter. is also provided with end or return pieces to give the proper archi tectural effect on the end walls of the'building without the necessity of finished carpentry work to accomplish this result. As shown in Fig. 1, the vertical portion of the gutter, which is attached to the vertical portion of the wall-plate, preferably extends somewhat below the horizontal portion of the plate, so that the gutter serves to seal the oint between the horizontal portion of the wall-plate and the top of the building wall It) against the entrance of moisture.

The adjustable cleats 4 which are shown in detail in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, are right-angled, metal brackets in which the horizontal portion is of greater length than the parallel dimension of the vertical portion, thus affording ends which are to be held under the wall-plate in the recesses along the apertures therein. The said parallel dimension of the vertical portion and the width of the horizontal portion must be less than the width of the apertures in the wall-plate to permit insertion of the cleats through the apertures during installation. The vertical portion of the cleats is provided with a suitable number of holes or a slot I I through which nails l2 may be driven the wall-plate.

into the roof rafters l3 and ceiling joists M, as shown, for example, in Fig. 5. The form of cleat shown in Fig. 4 may be modified by locating the ends of the wire of which the cleat is made at the top of the vertical portion, bending both ends of the wire in a direction parallel to and away from the horizontal portion, and pointing the said ends. These pointed ends can then substitute for the nails indicated in Fig. 4.

The means for fastening the wall-plate to the top of the building wall include the anchoring bolts 3 and anchoring saddles i5, one of which is shown in detail in Fig. 6. The anchoring saddles are of greater length than the width of the apertures in the wall-plate. so that they extend over both sides of the apertures and serve to securely hold down the wall-plate, when the nut I6 is tightened on the anchoring bolt 3. If desired, a washer I1 is provided between the anchoring saddle and the nut.

The method of installing my new wall-plate and of attaching the various building elements thereto is as follows:

The building wall l6, which may be of brick asshown in Fig. 1 or of stone, concrete or any other building material, is brought up to its proper height with built-in anchor bolts 3 at suitable intervals, for example, every 4 or 5 feet. In the case of brick or stone, a thin cement bed is is then trowelled on top of the wall to provide a level bearing surface. Then the wall-plate I is laid on top of the wall with the anchor bolts extending through the apertures 2 in its horizontal portion. The vertical portion of the wallplate is usually, but not necessarily, located flush with the exterior of the building wall, as shown in Fig. 1. The anchoring saddles l5 are then placed over the anchoring bolts 3, as are the washers i1 and the nuts l6. Before tightening the nuts, the desired number of cleats 4 are inserted'through the apertures in the horizontal portion of the wall-plate. This is possible, because the width of the horizontal portion of each cleat is less than the width of the apertures in After insertion each cleat is turned at right angles to assume the position shown in Fig. 1, whereby the ends of its horizontal portion are accommodated by the recesses i9 in the under-surface of the wall-plate on both sides of the apertures. It is also possible, where the required number of cleats is known beforehand, to insert the vertical portions of the cleats through the bottom of the wall-plate before laying down the latter, in which case the horizontal portions of the cleats can be wider than the aperadjoining each of the roof rafters and joists.

While it is customary to provide such rafters and joists at regular intervals, it is sometimes necessary to do so at irregular intervals, in case a chimney, a dormer window, or the like interferes. The length of the apertures in the wallplate makes it possible to adjust the positions of the cleats to take care of any such irregularities.

Once the cleats have been seat up in the desired positions, the nuts on the anchoring bolts ma be tightened to hold them there. Then the ceiling joists and roof rafters are nailed to the vertical portions of the cleats, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and.5 of the drawings. The ends of the roof rafters are firmly seated within the right angle formed by the wall-plate, and any lateral force exerted by the rafters is taken up by the vertical portion of the wall-plate. The cleats eliminate the necessity of toe-nailing the 'roof rafters and ceiling joists, and the entire assembl provides a very secure joint between the roof, ceiling and building wall.

For the original installation it is preferable that the gutter and the wall-plate be furnished already assembled. Conceivably they might be furnished in a single piece, but this would not be practical, because the wall-plate becomes an integral part of the building and could not be removed, in case the gutter must be replaced due to corrosion or some other injury. It is, therefore, desirable that the gutter be readily removable for replacement, as in the structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The joints between the gutter sections may be sealed with a caulking compound as shown at 2| in Fig. 2.

My new wall-plate provides a very convenient means for firmly attaching the gutter. The gutter is securely held so that it can never sag, and yet it can be readily replaced. It is possible to thus provide not only a very elficient gutter construction, but also one that is quite pleasing in appearance.

It is obvious that many variations from the specific construction herein illustrated and described may be made without departing from the scope of my invention. Such variations and modifications will readil occur to those skilled in the art. I, therefore, do not limit myself to the particular forms herein described, but intend to cover all such variations and modifications as are embraced within my claims.

I claim:

1. A wall-plate for securing various building elements at the top of a building wall, said wallplate being many times as long as it is wide and having a horizontal portion adapted to seat on the top of the building wall and a vertical portion extending at least in part above said horizontal portion thus forming an angled, roof rafter seat, the said horizontal portion being provided with elongated apertures for receiving means to secure the wall-plate to the top of the building wall and means to secure the roof rafters and ceiling joists of the building to the wall-plate, and the said vertical portion including means to secure a gutter thereto.

2. A metal wall-plate for securing various building elements at the top of a building wall, said wall-plate being many times as long as it is wide and, when installed, having a horizontal portion seating on the top of the building wall and a vertical portion facing the exterior of the building and extending above said horizontal portion, thus forming an angled, roof rafter seat, the said horizontal portion being provided with elongated apertures through which anchoring bolts are passed to secure the wall-plate to the top of the building wall and through which cleats are inserted to in turn secure the roof rafters and ceiling joists of the building to the wall-plate, and the said vertical portion including holes by means of which a gutter may be secured thereto.

3. A metal wall-plate, as claimed in claim 2, having recessed portions underneath the full length of the longer edges of the apertures to accommodate those parts of the cleats that lie beneath the wall-plate.

4. Means for securing the roof rafters and ceiling joists to the top of a building wall, comprising a gutter and a wall-plate, each of substantially equal length, joined together side by side in a manner permitting ready replacement of the gutter, the said wall-plate having a horizontal portion adapted to seat on the top of the building Wall and a vertical portion extending at least in part above said'horizontal portion, thus forming an angled, roof rafter seat, the said horizontal portion being provided with elongated apertures for receiving means to secure the wall-plate to the .top of the building wall and means to secure the roof rafters and ceiling joists to the wall-plate.

5. Means for securing roof rafters and ceiling joists to the top of a building wall, comprising a gutter and a metal wall-plate, each of substantially equal length, joined together side by side in a manner permitting ready replacement of the gutter, the said wall-plate, when installed, having a horizontal portion adapted to seat on the top of the building wall and a vertical portion to which the gutter is joined facing the exterior of the building and extending above the horizontal portion, thus forming an angled, roof rafter seat, the said horizontal portion being provided with elongated apertures through which anchoring bolts are passed to secure the wall-plate to the top of the building wall and through which cleats are inserted to in turn secure the roof rafters and ceiling joists to the wall-plate.

6. Securing means, as claimed in claim 5, having recessed portions underneath the full length of the longer edges of the apertures to accommodate those parts of the cleats that lie beneath the wall-plate.

7. Means for securing roof rafters and ceiling joists to the top of a building wall, comprising a gutter, a wall-plate and cleats, the gutter and wall-plate being of substantially equal length and joined together side by side in a manner permitting ready replacement of the gutter, the said wall-plate having a horizontal portion adapted to seat on the top of the building wall and a vertical portion to which the gutter is joined, extending at least in part above the horizontal portion, thus forming an angled, roof rafter seat, the said horizontal portion being provided with elongated apertures for receiving means to secure the wall-plate to the top of the building wall, and

the said cleats having horizontal portions adapted to seat on the top of the building wall beneath the horizontal portion of the wall-plate, and vertical portions adapted to extend through the apertures of the wall-plate and to be secured to the roof rafters and ceiling joists when seated on the wall.

8. Securing means, as claimed in claim 7, having recessed portions underneath the full length of the longer edges of the apertures, adapted to receive those parts of the horizontal portions of the cleats that lie between the wall-plate and the top of the building wall.

E, WILLIAM MARTIN. 

